China’s vice-president Wang Qishan has been given a central diplomatic role, it emerged on Tuesday, following official confirmation of his attendance at the inaugural meeting of a key Communist Party body on foreign affairs.

Li Mingjiang, an associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the announcement was proof that Wang would be heavily involved in foreign affairs.

“It’s clear that he will be a very important decision maker in China’s foreign policy,” he said. “And because of his experience, informal political status and personal relations with Xi Jinping … his actual role will be much bigger than that of a regular member [of the new commission].”

Li said the reason Wang was not given the deputy head’s role in the new commission was probably because giving a leadership role to someone who was not even a member of the Central Committee – the largest of the party’s ruling bodies – “would be a problem politically”.

“A member is more acceptable … but it doesn’t really diminish the role he will be playing in foreign policymaking,” he said.